There are well known patents disclosing methods and systems for creation of complex shape parts using powder metallurgy techniques.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,452 to Walker describes a process for fabricating multi-alloy components such as a turbine disk, made from a metal or metal alloy which has been processed to display super plastic properties at elevated temperatures, is diffusion bonded to a component or components, such as turbine blades, made from another metal or metal alloy, by disposing the components in a press with the surfaces to be bonded in mating contact. Moisture and oxygen are removed from between the surfaces. Heat and pressure are then applied, such as by forging at an elevated temperature or by hot isostatic pressing, to cause super plastic deformation of at least one of the components at the bonding surfaces. The heat and pressure are held sufficiently long to diffusion bond the surfaces. The new integral assembly is then heat treated to obtain desired properties.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,300 to Hoppin, et al. discloses a method of a dual alloy turbine wheel manufacture of a cast integral blade ring pressure-sealed to a wrought alloy hub and thereafter bonded thereto by hot isostatic pressing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,700 to Curbishley, et al. also discloses a method, where a dual alloy cooled turbine is manufactured by casting a hollow cylinder of first nickel-base alloy material with high creep resistance to produce directionally oriented grain boundaries. A preform of a second nickel-base alloy material with high tensile strength and high low-cycle-fatigue strength is diffusion bonded into the bore of the hollow cylinder by subjecting the cylinder and preform to hot isostatic pressing. The resulting cylindrical block is cut into thin precisely flat wafers. A plurality of alignable holes for forming fluid cooling passages are photo chemically etched into the individual wafers. The wafers then are laminated by vacuum diffusion bonding techniques, with the holes aligned to form fluid cooling passages. The resulting laminated block is machined to produce the turbine wheel with turbine blades through which the cooling passages extend.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,050 to Krueger, et al. discloses an article of manufacture duel alloy turbine disks having at least a first and a second part, each part having different mechanical properties, compositions, microstructures or combinations thereof, being joined together using a forging process to yield a substantially defect-free joint region. The article in the form of a turbine disk is particularly suited for use in a gas turbine engine in which the hub or inner portion must be resistant to low cycle fatigue and have high strength, while the rim or outer portion must be resistant to stress rupture failure and creep failure.
“Hot isostatic Pressing—Theory and Applications” Proceeding of the 3rd International Conference, pp 259-265, Kratt et al. describes technology of HIPing complex shape parts with dual chemical composition and properties from metal powders.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,583 to Jenkel, et al. discloses a method of integrally bladed rotor fabrication, in which deformable hollow single crystal blades are protected from deformation during diffusion bonding to the disk by encapsulation in a ceramic protective shell. The ceramic shell serves to occupy the areas between the blades and the surrounding forging die set, so that during application of high temperatures and pressures, damage to the blades is prevented without the use of complex segmented die assemblies.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,540 to Marlowe, et al. discloses two step process for bonding the elements of a three-layer cladding tube in which a method is provided for preparing a cladding tube having an outer substrate, an intermediate zirconium barrier layer, and an inner liner. The method includes the following steps: (a) bonding an inner liner alloy sheath exterior circumferential surface to a zirconium sheath interior circumferential surface to form a barrier/inner liner sheath, and (b) bonding the exterior surface of the zirconium sheath on the barrier/inner liner sheath to the interior circumferential surface of an outer substrate alloy tube to form the cladding tube. Alternatively, the method includes the following steps: (a) bonding the zirconium sheath exterior circumferential surface to the outer substrate alloy tube interior circumferential surface to form a substrate tube/barrier sheath, and (b) bonding the exterior circumferential surface of the inner liner alloy sheath to the interior circumferential surface of the zirconium sheath of the substrate tube/barrier sheath to form said cladding tube. In either approach the tube produced by step (a) is heat treated before step (b) is performed. The bonding steps are performed by extrusion and sometimes hot isostatic pressing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,085 to Tohill, et al. discloses a method of manufacturing of impeller assembly, where two articles is sealed together to define a cavity there between. A vacuum is drawn in the cavity by means of an evacuation tube having a passageway. The passageway is then sealed and the articles are subjected to a temperature and pressure to diffusion bond the articles together. A successful diffusion bond can be determined if the evacuation tube sidewall is collapsed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,633 to Kratt, et.al offers a novel method of manufacturing articles of a complex shape by subjecting powder material to Hot Isostatic Pressing. The method involves manufacturing a capsule with at least one insert. The capsule is filled with outgassed powder. Thereafter, the powder in the capsule is subjected to hot isostatic pressing. The capsule is removed to produce a finished article, such as a bladed disk. The thickness of capsule walls is made variable so as to provide substantially unidirectional axial deformation of the powder during the Hot Isostatic Pressing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,401 to Miglietti discloses a process for diffusion bonding of cracks and other gaps in high-temperature nickel and cobalt alloy components. The gap is filled with alloy powder matching the substrate alloy, or with an alloy of superior properties, such as MAR-M 247, MAR-M 247LC, or CM 247LC. A braze containing a melting point depressant is either mixed into the alloy powder or applied over it. The depressant is preferably hafnium, zirconium, or low boron. The component is heated for 15-45 minutes above the melting point of the braze, which fills the spaces between the alloy powder particles. The component is diffused at a temperature above or below the liquidus of the braze and solution heat-treated and aged at a temperature at which the braze and alloy mixture in the gap is solid, but the depressant diffuses away.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,537 to Zhang, et al. discloses diffusion bonding of copper sputtering targets to backing plates using nickel alloy interlayears. A sputter target assembly including a high purity copper sputter target diffusion bonded to a backing plate, preferably composed of either aluminum, aluminum alloy, aluminum matrix composite materials, copper, or copper alloy, and a Ni-alloy interlayer, preferably composed of Ni—V, Ni—Ti, Ni—Cr, or Ni—Si, located between and joining the target and backing plate, and a method for making the assembly. The method of making involves depositing (e.g., electroplating, sputtering, plasma spraying) the interlayer on a mating surface of either the sputter target or backing plate and pressing, such as hot isostatically pressing, the sputter target and backing plate together along mating surfaces so as to form a diffusion bonded sputter target assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,409 to Barone, et al. discloses a method of producing light alloy castings by foundry technology in which, after solidification and shake-out, the casting is subjected to a heat-treatment cycle comprising a solution heat-treatment step at a temperature high enough to put into solution the phases precipitated in the course of the solidification of the casting, possibly followed by a quenching step and an ageing step, wherein the solution heat-treatment step is performed at least partially in hot isostatic pressing conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,720,086 to Strutt discloses liquid interface diffusion bonding of nickel-based superalloys as comprises a metal honeycomb core such as a nickel-alloy honeycomb core and a nickel-alloy facing sheet bonded thereto. The composition and method of this invention are useful in applications where high strength, heat resistant materials are required, such as in aircraft and aerospace-related structures. The composition is prepared by a method comprising: (a) providing a nickel-alloy honeycomb core having a mating surface and a nickel-alloy facing sheet having a mating surface; (b) placing together the honeycomb core mating surface and the facing sheet mating surface, and providing there between a metal foil comprising nickel, zirconium, and at least one additional metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, niobium, and chromium; (c) subjecting the mating surfaces and metal foil there between to sufficient positive pressure to maintain position and alignment for joining; and (d) heating the mating surfaces and metal foil there between in a protective atmosphere for at least 2 hours to a temperature sufficient to cause melting between the metal foil and mating surfaces of the facing sheet and honeycomb core.
The methods and systems disclosed in Patents and publication mentioned above show that configuration and production routes for bimetallic and sometimes multi-component parts like turbine disks (blisk), impellers, cladded valves and housings are based on diffusion bonding of solid to solid components. Diffusion bonding is usually achieved by hot forging or hot isostatic pressing. There are two goals at least, that should be provided under forging or HIPing:—create bonding of dissimilar materials with tensile strength of the interface area not lower than the strength of a weaker alloy and therefore—provide required properties for integral part.
However traditional heat treatment of solid parts separately or jointly after HIP (forging) following one of the preferred heat treatment regimes cannot provide the level of required properties and microstructure.
As a result all listed above technical solutions do not enable to achieve the goal of a robust manufacturing process for multi-component complex shape parts consisting of different materials including powder material and solid materials each of them possessing the properties which are optimal for the performance of the said multi-component part. The reason is that these solutions do not account the deterioration of the properties of the monolithic component during HIP and heat treatment which is usually done in accordance with the regimes of powder material which has to be consolidated to full 100% density and firmly bonded to the solid monolithic material.
The goal of the present invention is to develop methods and systems for manufacturing of multi-component complex shape parts consisting of monolithic and powder materials working at different performance conditions (for example, turbine blisks), and possessing optimal properties so that monolithic and as powder components are not deteriorated as a result of joint processing which is usually done in accordance with the regimes of powder material which has to be consolidated to full 100% density and firmly bonded to the solid monolithic material.
In particular for bimetallic blisks made from monolithic and powder Ni-based superalloys with cast blades and powder hub and rim, the object of the present invention is to provide the method and system for manufacturing such multi-component part with 100% density of the powder material firmly HIP bonded to the monolithic blades without deterioration of the micro-structure and properties of the blades.